


you'll always paint my sky

by sempre_balla



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Soen no Kiseki/Akatsuki no Megami | Fire Emblem Path of Radiance/Radiant Dawn
Genre: F/F, Light Romance, idk how to tag this it's just lethe being a lesbian
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-20
Updated: 2019-01-20
Packaged: 2019-10-13 10:41:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,111
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17486621
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sempre_balla/pseuds/sempre_balla
Summary: Jill had always looked best on the battlefield, and Lethe just couldn't deny her feelings any longer.





	you'll always paint my sky

**Author's Note:**

> yes the title is a hayley kiyoko lyric I'm a stereotypical wlw let's move on

Jill had always looked best on the battlefield. Lethe loathed to admit it at first. The first time she set her eyes upon the redhead had been while she plunged her lance into a fellow laguz—Kilvas crow or not, enemy or not, seeing a Daein beorc slaying a laguz always made Lethe seethe with rage.

When she had met the wyvern rider off the battlefield, Lethe had hated her even more. She despised the way in which Jill would use disgusting terms such as sub-human and then have the gall to look meek and unsure about the hate she spouted. Jill never ate with the mercenaries, rarely spoke to them, and spent the entire boat ride to Begnion in solitude, which made Lethe see her as weak-spirited and unworthy of her time.

Then they neared the Begnion coast and Lethe saw Jill fight again, all her childishness and insecurities fallen behind as she wrecked havoc on the enemy ship, cutting down enemies as if it was second nature. Lethe wanted to be disgusted at the child of a war-consumed nation, but she was a laguz, a proud Gallian, and her people respected strength more than anything else. Jill was a crimson flash in the battlefield, a true menace full of ferocity and prudence in equal measure. She looked best with a lance in her hands, and by the time they were on land, Lethe couldn't deny it any longer.

Jill approached Lethe once, while they were still running errands for the apostle, and Lethe had been surprised at how small she looked up front. It was her attitude, she decided, that made her seem so insignificant regardless of the fact that she towered over Lethe in terms of height. Jill insulted the laguz in that conversation, and she did it in stutters and with averted eyes. _You are a small, pathetic, little thing,_ Lethe had thought, and not without a tinge of disappointment. How someone so magnificent and imposing when mounted on a wyvern could be reduced to this when off of it escaped her comprehension. She decided Jill wasn’t worth her time, and turned on her heel. A few days down the line, Lethe changed her mind and spoke to her one more time. She did it only because, under that irritating layer of insecurity, the cat could see deep remorse and shame, so she gave Jill one more chance to reflect. It was a disaster again, and Lethe’s disappointment was monumental. They were entering Daein in a few days, and Jill, now nothing more than wasted potential, would certainly leave the army as soon as they crossed the border.

The day they started the march with Begnion reinforcements at their side, Lethe started keeping a careful eye on Jill, expectant of the moment she turned on them. She wondered how imposing the other girl would look as an enemy, and if the knowledge of her true personality would make her feel less intimidating. Lethe wasn’t one to feel intimidated easily, but she commended the strength of her allies and, for the time being, Jill was included in that category.

They reached Talrega, Ike struck down the enemy commander, and, inexplicably, Jill remained among their ranks. Lethe did something she never thought she’d do: she approached the wyvern rider herself. The girl’s eyes were red and puffy, and she looked weak and tired, yet for once she spoke without a stutter in her voice.

“When I joined you, I acted on my own accord. For the first time,” she said, her voice firm and clear. “I chose what I thought was a righteous path. Even if my decision forced me to face my own father... It's too late to change things now. That's why... I'm here.”

In that moment, Lethe felt very foolish. Jill had never been weak, she had been battling herself the entire time. She always looked best in the battlefield because it showed what she truly was: a warrior inside out—just like Lethe herself. The laguz offered her hand in friendship, and when Jill took it with a firm grip, Lethe didn’t fail to notice the calluses and roughness of the beorc’s hand. She took them for the sign of hard work that they were, and decided she quite liked Jill’s hands, even if they didn’t have any claws in them.

Lethe’s eyes rarely left Jill’s form for the rest of the war. She took in every detail of her figure, committed them to memory, and dreamt of them at night. The flow of Jill’s hair was brighter than the sun, the sound of her voice louder than thunder. When they parted after Ashnard’s fall the two of them shared a hug. Lethe felt every muscle she could never see under Jill’s armor and thought that she never wanted to leave those strong arms.

She did, for three whole years.

 

* * *

 

Jill had always looked best on the battlefield. Lethe had never thought they’d meet as enemies after what happened in Talrega during the Mad King’s War but, regardless of the circumstances, she was more than happy to see her old comrade. Jill looked like a woman now, her countenance was calmer and firmer, her features much more mature. There was a naturality to the way in which she rode her wyvern that had not been there before, and she was gorgeous.

There was a clear hesitation in the way she fought, however, and while Lethe would have been annoyed by it in the past, she could only appreciate the consideration the beorc had towards her laguz brothers and sisters now, especially considering the fact that they were enemies. They talked briefly on the battlefield, Jill explained her situation, and Lethe smiled inwardly.

“You have your reasons,” she said, beginning to transform. “I don’t need to know them. We are friends. No war can change that.”

“Lethe…” Jill’s voice was small, uncertain, a reminder of the girl Lethe had once thought she was.

“Let’s begin, Jill!” she cut in. “We both know what we’re capable of. Prepare to lose.”

Jill’s face broke into a smile, and Lethe found herself going back to her habit of trying to scrutinize every detail of Jill on the battlefield.

It turned out that the sight of Jill bringing an axe down at her was as imposing as it was beautiful, and Lethe knew with certainty that no matter if they were allies or enemies, she would always admire the woman before her: in her strength, in her beauty, in her growth, and in the way in which she made Lethe’s heart swell with something that could only be called love.

**Author's Note:**

> small marisa reference because the crimson flash is the rawest fucking nickname out there and also, wife.


End file.
